Azeri experts associate escalation of Karabakh conflict with growth of international tension

The year 2015 was a year of active clashes in the Karabakh conflict zone, said Azad Isazade, a military expert. The OSCE Minsk Group has failed to make progress in settling the conflict, said Avaz Gasanov, the head of the Society of Humanitarian Studies. Yerevan seeks to "be liked" by Russia, following an attack by Turkish fighters of the Russian Su-24 bombers, an expert Uzeir Jafarov gave his comment.

As noted by Isazade, an escalation on the troops contact line began in August 2014, and "for 18 months, almost every day, there are intensive shootouts."

"But if earlier the fire was delivered from sub- and machine guns, this year, heavy artillery, missiles, tanks and aircrafts were involved," he said.

According to Isazade, damage was inflicted also to civilian objects, including economic and transport infrastructures. Besides, according to experts, there were wounded persons among locals from both sides.

The escalation in the conflict zone has to do with the overall tension in international relations, in particular, with the wars in Ukraine and Syria, said Isazade. According to his version, the point of extreme tension at the frontline was reached in late November-early December 2015, in the run-up to the meeting of presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia in Bern.

As for the efforts of international mediators attempting to resolve the conflict, the expert said that the current format of negotiations within the OSCE Minsk Group has survived its usefulness.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.